Comments on: Single Review: Lady Antebellum, "Downtown"http://www.countryuniverse.net/2013/02/10/single-review-lady-antebellum-downtown/
Celebrating Ten Years: 2004-2014Tue, 31 Mar 2015 18:34:22 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1By: Camhttp://www.countryuniverse.net/2013/02/10/single-review-lady-antebellum-downtown/#comment-1460795
Thu, 27 Jun 2013 03:21:28 +0000http://www.countryuniverse.net/?p=23810#comment-1460795Let’s see… it was on hold with Miranda, cut by Lady A, and yet you think it’s sloppy songwriting? Well, I hope to someday write plenty of them just as sloppy then. The rules have changed, and this is exactly the type of material Nashville wants, sloppy or not.
]]>By: Gloriahttp://www.countryuniverse.net/2013/02/10/single-review-lady-antebellum-downtown/#comment-1327216
Sat, 16 Feb 2013 18:19:47 +0000http://www.countryuniverse.net/?p=23810#comment-1327216Off topic here, but I cannot get onto Country Universe anymore. It tells me site Temporary Unavailable. Could it be something with my computer or is it this site. I got in by googling and then clicked on reviews and this popped up. Can someone help me??
]]>By: Paul W Dennishttp://www.countryuniverse.net/2013/02/10/single-review-lady-antebellum-downtown/#comment-1323248
Tue, 12 Feb 2013 11:17:42 +0000http://www.countryuniverse.net/?p=23810#comment-1323248Pretty dumb lyric – performance is okay but I agree that Hilary Scott’s vocal is very affected – she needs to go back and listen to her mother’s recordings and hear what a vocalist with control sounds like.

I’d give this a B- as the whole seems a little greater than the sum of its parts

]]>By: Leeann Wardhttp://www.countryuniverse.net/2013/02/10/single-review-lady-antebellum-downtown/#comment-1322935
Tue, 12 Feb 2013 04:49:04 +0000http://www.countryuniverse.net/?p=23810#comment-1322935Jonathan, You mentioned their Webisode Wednesdays, so I thought I’d check them out. So funny! I’m hooked.
]]>By: Noah Eatonhttp://www.countryuniverse.net/2013/02/10/single-review-lady-antebellum-downtown/#comment-1322635
Mon, 11 Feb 2013 19:58:26 +0000http://www.countryuniverse.net/?p=23810#comment-1322635And yes, I’m going to continue to refer to this trio as “Lady Ampleboredom” until they have landed a record where at least half of its tracks are either filled to the brim with vim, or else offer some real meat and depth in terms of lyricism or performance! ;)
]]>By: Noah Eatonhttp://www.countryuniverse.net/2013/02/10/single-review-lady-antebellum-downtown/#comment-1322632
Mon, 11 Feb 2013 19:56:06 +0000http://www.countryuniverse.net/?p=23810#comment-1322632I’ll give them this: they sound more like Lady Antebellum (as opposed to Lady Ampleboredom) again here! ;)

*

Still, this is not the 180-degree shift many had been hoping for, and here’s why.

Firstly, Hilary Scott’s vocals sound so calculated here. The drawl she tries to inflect before each chorus is especially forced (i.e. “It’s beeeeeeennn awwwwhhhhillleee!”, as well as “You might be tiiiirrrreeeddd, but I’mmmmm nottttt!” )……….only to slip into her usual wistful, dewy-eyed mode in the latter stretch. Sugarland’s “Stuck Like Glue”, for instance, was most enjoyable in that Jennifer Nettles was able to harness that youthful spunk from beginning to end. With “Downtown”, Hillary Scott aims for a sexier, spunkier vibe, but by the second half retreats to common ground. I guess it might be the point considering “Downtown”, lyrically, depicts a protagonist lamenting a youthful fire having been extinguished in her love interest………but it still makes for an awkward listening experience. Especially when Scott sounds increasingly tired by the end, herself.

*

The vocals are not the only aspect of the song that ring calculated to my ears, however. Especially after an abstinence-dripping “Just a Kiss” and senior-prom fluff a la “Dancin’ Away With My Heart”, which both found this youthful group playing it waaaaaaaaaayyy too safe and not acting their youthful age whatsoever………………it’s as though their publicist finally got the memo and, upon doing so, panicked: “Oh Gosh-Gollies! Where have we been? Have we been loitering away in a bomb bunker over these past twenty years and didn’t even realize it? You mean singers are talking about, (gulp), BLACK DRESSES now?!!! ”

“Downtown” is the sound of them trying to re-adjust their lyrical fodder to fit the more sexed-up than ever before trends in pop culture, but doing so more with a nervous half-step forward rather than the full step. You can easily tell how self-conscious they are of making any of the vanilla traditional listening demographic feel uncomfortable, and that tentativeness is made most emphatic in Scott’s inconsistent vocal. It’s not hard to imagine her, on the first several takes in the recording booth, eyeing the lyrics sheet and wanting to say dress, but instead mouthing “Coat!” ;)

*

So I’ll give this trio credit for two things. Firstly, this doesn’t sound boring. And secondly, I do like the steel guitar-driven bridge (which will be sanded away when given the inevitable crossover airplay treatment in favor of a dubbed guitar solo or a guest rap by A$AP Rocky).

Beyond that, though, I’m still not impressed. I’d give this a C, personally. Now if only they’d make music as interesting as their Webisode Wednesdays series! ;)

]]>By: Jonathan Keefehttp://www.countryuniverse.net/2013/02/10/single-review-lady-antebellum-downtown/#comment-1322603
Mon, 11 Feb 2013 19:15:14 +0000http://www.countryuniverse.net/?p=23810#comment-1322603Based on her fairly consistent failure to sing on the correct pitch and her increasingly unpleasant, pinched tone, I honestly do think Scott is every bit as technically poor a singer as Swift.

I thought she had a world of potential as a singer based on the group’s debut album, but she’s gotten progressively worse over time.

I do think Swift has at least learned how to vary her phrasing in ways that are interesting and that can, at least in the studio, sometimes compensate for her technical limitations. Scott, on the other hand, seems to be doing the opposite a lot of the time, and ends up accentuating the most troublesome attributes of her voice. At one time, she had a strong sense of phrasing and a little grit in her tone, but I haven’t heard either of those things in her studio recordings or live performances for going on three albums now.

Does she still have an innate potential to be a better singer? Most certainly, and I do hope that’s the case sooner rather than later.

]]>By: Markus Meyerhttp://www.countryuniverse.net/2013/02/10/single-review-lady-antebellum-downtown/#comment-1322506
Mon, 11 Feb 2013 16:19:25 +0000http://www.countryuniverse.net/?p=23810#comment-1322506Personally, I think Scott is a stronger vocalist than Swift, but that’s just me.
]]>By: Tara Seetharamhttp://www.countryuniverse.net/2013/02/10/single-review-lady-antebellum-downtown/#comment-1321672
Mon, 11 Feb 2013 00:04:29 +0000http://www.countryuniverse.net/?p=23810#comment-1321672Great review, and as much as I dig this song, I think you’re about right with your grade. With regards to the below part, do you mean that Swift has figured out how to use her voice better than Scott has? I agree with that, but I think if Scott ever ups her game, the combo of character and soul in her voice will make her a much better singer than Swift.

For all the grief Taylor Swift rightly gets about her vocal technique, Scott isn’t a bit better of a singer…

]]>By: Jakehttp://www.countryuniverse.net/2013/02/10/single-review-lady-antebellum-downtown/#comment-1321588
Sun, 10 Feb 2013 22:16:23 +0000http://www.countryuniverse.net/?p=23810#comment-1321588I agree 100%. Interestingly enough Miranda Lambert had this song on hold but decided to let them have it. I bet I would like her version better because she could give it the attitude the song needs instead of the sweet vocal from Hilary. Lets just hope the Lady A from their first album is back.
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